Does it matter which microcontroller to use for 1st time embed system programmer?
I've experience in doing desktop and web programming for a few years. I would like to move onto doing some embed system programming. After asking the initial question, I wonder which hardware / software IDE should I start on...
Arduino + Arduino IDE?
Atmel AVR + AVR Studio 4?
Freescale HCS12 or Coldfire + CodeWarrior?
Microchip PIC+ MPLAB?
ARM Cortex-M3 + ARM RealView / WinARM
Or... doesn't matter?
Which development platform is the easiest to learn and program in (take in consideration of IDE usability)?
Which one is the easiest to debug if something goes wrong?
My goal is to learn about "how IO ports work, memory limitations/requirements incl. possibly paging, interrupt service routines." Is it better to learn one that I'll use later on, or the high level concept should carry over to most micro-controllers?
Thanks!
update: how is this dev kit for a start? Comment? suggestion?
Answer
Personally, I'd recommend an ARM Cortex-M3 based microcontroller. The higher-power ARM cores are extremely popular, and these low-power versions could very well take off in a space that is still littered with proprietary 8/16-bit cores. Here is a recent article on the subject: The ARM Cortex-M3 and the convergence of the MCU market.
The Arduino is very popular for hobbyist. Atmel's peripheral library is fairly common across processor types. So, it would smooth a later transition from an AVR to an ARM.
I don't mean to claim that an ARM is better than an AVR or any other core. Choosing an MCU for a commercial product usually comes down to peripherals and price, followed by existing code base and development tools. Besides, microcontrollers are general much much simpler than a desktop PC. So, it's really not that hard to move form one to another after you get the hang of it.
Also, look into FreeRTOS if you are interested in real-time operating system (RTOS) development. It's open source and contains a nice walk through of what an RTOS is and how they have implemented one. In fact, their walk-through example even targets an AVR.
Development tools for embedded systems can be very expensive. However, there are often open source alternatives for the more open cores like ARM and AVR. For example, see the WinARM and WinAVR projects.
Those tool-chains are based on GCC and are thus also available (and easier to use IMHO) on non-Windows platforms. If you are familiar with using GCC, then you know that there are an abundance of "IDE's" to suit your taste from EMACS and vi (my favorite) to Eclipse.
The commercial offerings can save you a lot of headaches getting setup. However, the choice of one will very much depend on your target hardware and budget. Also, Some hardware support direct USB debugging while others may require a pricey JTAG adapter.
Other Links:
Low-Cost Cortex-M3 Boards:
New Arduino to utilize an ARM Cortex-M3 instead of an AVR microcontroller.